Africa-Press – Malawi. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has partnered with the Ministry of Education to develop and refine a game-base application called MiLab.
The application which has been developed by Mzuzu University through the Information Communication and Technology (ICT) incubation Centre with technical support from secondary school teachers is expected to allow students to conduct unlimited virtual experimentation in physics and chemistry subjects.
The App will enable students to have full-time access to virtual laboratories as an alternative to physical laboratories that have limited to or are not available respective schools.
It will enable students to learn even when there are no supporting traditional facilities ( laboratories ) or when there are disruptions in traditional calendars.
It is also said that through the App, Secondary Schools will be equipped to conduct experiments in subjects such as nuclear physics which were not be possible to be conducted in the existing physical labs.
Speaking to Maravi Post, one of the App developers Chunga said the main goal of MiLab is to help close the inequality gap that exists between students with access to traditional laboratories facilities and those students who do not have access to these traditional lab facilities by digitizing the lab experience and making it accessible on low-cost mobile devices without need for an active internet connection.
He said the App has been already tested in some schools and it has proven to be very successful in its operation. ” Last week students and educators from selected districts tested the App in a real teaching/ learning environment for the first time at Chibavi Secondary School in Mzuzu.
“For sure, it is absolutely imperative that every student and teacher gets the opportunity to use MiLab for many reasons.
“MiLab for sure does not solve all the challenges faced by our secondary education, but it does take a step towards a better, quality and affordable education theme,” said Chunga.
MiLab development project is being supported by the Ministry of Education through Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) with funding from UNDP through their accelerator Lab in Malawi as well as National Council for Science and Technology ( NCST).
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